Multidimensional object viewability data generation

ABSTRACT

Using various embodiments, methods and systems to determine viewability metrics of a multidimensional object in a multidimensional digital environment are described. In one embodiment, a system is configured to render a viewport of a multidimensional digital environment displayed on a graphical user interface to determine a screen coverage metric of an object of interest on the viewport. Thereafter, the system is configured to render the viewport of the multidimensional digital environment displayed on the graphical user interface to determine a metric of visibility of the object of interest on the viewport.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority from,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/262,879, titled“VIEWABILITY METRICS OF A MULTIDIMENSIONAL OBJECT IN A MULTIDIMENSIONALDIGITAL ENVIRONMENT” filed on Jan. 30, 3019. The contents of the aboveidentified application is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes to the extent that such subject matter is not inconsistentherewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relates generally to datacollection for the purposes of analytics in computer generated (orsimulated) multidimensional digital environments. More particularly,embodiments of the invention relate to determine metrics of viewabilityof a multidimensional digital object within a multidimensional digitalenvironment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Multi-dimensional computer generated or simulated environments areutilized in many different fields that use computer aided visualizationtechniques. Examples can include the industries related to gaming,medical, training, financial, advertising, real-estate, or any fieldthat involves using virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality,three dimensional digital objects. An important aspect of any of theabove identified fields can include collection of data based onvisibility of a multidimensional digital object residing within themultidimensional digital environment. However, currently knownembodiments are inefficient or inaccurately collect such data andsubsequently can result in inaccurate analytics determination.Therefore, what is needed are systems, methods, and techniques that canovercome the above identified limitations and accurately collect datarelated to visibility of the multidimensional digital object within themultidimensional digital environment.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

A system of one or more computers can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware,hardware, or a combination thereof installed on the system that inoperation causes or cause the system to perform the actions describedherein. One or more computer programs can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of including instructionsthat, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus toperform the actions described herein.

In one embodiment, a system of one or more computers can be configuredto perform particular operations or actions by virtue of havingsoftware, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them installed on thesystem that in operation causes or cause the system to perform theactions. One or more computer programs can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of including instructionsthat, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus toperform the actions. One general aspect includes a system to determine ametric of viewability of an object of interest (virtual/digital asset)in an electronically generated multidimensional digital environmentdisplayed on graphical user interface by rendering a viewport of themultidimensional digital environment displayed on the graphical userinterface, where the viewport includes the object of interest, and wherethe object of interest includes a multidimensional digital object, andwhere the object of interest is rendered with a first set of colors.Thereafter the system can be configured to determine a first number ofpixels, the first number of pixels representing a total number of pixelsin the first set of colors. The system can also determine a secondnumber of pixels in the viewport, the second number representing a totalnumber of pixels of the viewport, and calculate a first ratio bydividing the first number of pixels by the second number of pixels.

Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems,apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computerstorage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

Embodiments can include one or more of the following features. Thesystem can include determining a geometrical area of projection (GAP) ofthe object of interest on the viewport, where the GAP includes the totalarea projected by the object of interest in a normalized viewport space,and calculating a second ratio by dividing the first ratio by the GAP.The system can further be configured to determine the GAP of the objectof interest on the viewport by projecting vertices of the object ofinterest from world coordinates to the normalized viewport space. Thesystem can also be configured to calculate a total area projected by thevertices of the object of interest in the normalized viewport space. Inone embodiment, the normalized viewport space is represented by anormalized two dimensional (2D) coordinate system.

The system can be further configured to determine the total areaprojected by the vertices of the first set of colors the processingsystem by calculating an area of each face of the object of interestprojected by the vertices of the first set of colors in the normalizedviewport space and performing a summation of the area of each faceprojected by the vertices of the first set of colors in the normalizedviewport space. The system can be configured to determine objects thatare not an object of interest, within the viewport, by rendering suchobjects with a second set of colors. An object of interest can include amultidimensional bounding box enclosing the multidimensional digitalobject/asset. The multidimensional bounding box can be of the samenumber of dimensions as that of the asset it bounds. In one embodiment,the multidimensional digital environment can be at least athree-dimensional environment. In one embodiment, the multidimensionaldigital object can be at least a three-dimensional digital object. Inyet another embodiment, the bounding box is at least three-dimensionaland encloses a three dimensional object. Implementations of thedescribed techniques may include hardware, a method or process, orcomputer software on a computer-accessible medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates system 100 configured to determine a metric ofvisibility of an object of interest in an electronically generatedmultidimensional digital environment displayed on graphical userinterface, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A illustrates diagram 200 describing an object of interest in aviewport of a multidimensional digital environment, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B illustrates diagram 201 describing a rendered object of interestin a viewport of a multidimensional digital environment, according toone embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates diagram 300 describing two objects of interest of thesame size with the same orientation and distance and determining ascreen coverage ratio of the object of interest relative to theviewport, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4A illustrates diagram 400 describing an object of interest in amultidimensional space whose Geometrical Area of Projection needs to bedetermined, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4B illustrates diagram 401 illustrating the Geometrical Area ofProjection of an object of interest on a normalized coordinate of theviewport of a multidimensional digital environment, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates flow diagram 500 describing the operations todetermine a metric of viewability of an object of interest in amultidimensional digital environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 illustrates flow diagram 600 describing the operations todetermine another metric of viewability of an object of interest in amultidimensional digital environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates flow diagram 700 describing the operations to derivethe Geometrical Area of Projection of an object of interest in amultidimensional digital environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 illustrates flow diagram 800 to determine a total area of allfaces projected by the vertices of an object of interest in a normalizedtwo dimensional coordinate system of a viewport, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates flow diagram 900 to determine an area of each faceprojected by the vertices of an object of interest, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system such asa computing system 1000, according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be described withreference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings willillustrate the various embodiments. The following description anddrawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construedas limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the presentinvention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to provide a concise discussion ofembodiments of the present inventions.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or“another embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can beincluded in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances ofthe phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification donot necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. The processes depictedin the figures that follow are performed by processing logic thatcomprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software,or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below interms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that someof the operations described can be performed in a different order.Moreover, some operations can be performed in parallel rather thansequentially.

The following terminology is used herein:

A screen coverage metric (also referred to herein as metric of screencoverage) means a measure related to screen coverage of amultidimensional object, on a viewport of a graphical interface (e.g.,screen), in a multidimensional digital environment. The metric can berepresented as a percentage or ratio. In this regard, screen coveragemeans a span ratio or percentage of a multidimensional object relativeto the viewport displaying the multidimensional digital environment. Aviewport is an area (e.g., rectangular or any other geometrical shape)that is expressed in coordinates specific to a rendering device.Therefore, a viewport of a conventional graphical interface displayed ona screen would be the pixels of the screen, and the viewability of anobject would be the ratio or percentage an object spans (in pixels)relative to the viewport. Pixel as referred to herein can be aconventional pixel, a Texel (that is, a pixel with a texture element,also referred as texture pixel herein), or any other picture element asknown to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

A visibility metric (also referred to herein as metric of visibility)means a measure related to the visibility of a multidimensional object,or a portion thereof, on a viewport of a graphical interface, in amultidimensional digital environment. Visibility metric means a measureof visibility of the multidimensional object on the viewport. The metriccan be determined as a percentage or ratio. In this regard, visibilityof an object means a ratio or percentage of a multidimensional objectthat is visible to a user or viewer of the viewport of themultidimensional digital environment.

Metric of viewability (also referred to herein as viewability metric orviewability metrics) can mean a screen coverage metric, a visibilitymetric, a combination thereof, or any result derived by an associationof the screen coverage metric and the visibility metric.

An object of interest is any object whose metric of viewability needs tobe determined. In one embodiment, an object of interest can be amultidimensional object displayed within a multidimensional environment.In other embodiments the object of interest can also include a boundingbox that encloses the multidimensional object.

A geometrical area of projection (GAP) is the total area projected by anobject of interest, in a normalized coordinate system, visible on theviewport (normalized viewport space). This can be determined using thevertices projected by the object of interest. When the rendering deviceincludes a conventional graphical interface (e.g., screen) thenormalized coordinate system can be represented as a two dimensionalcoordinate system.

Although exemplary embodiments are explained in a screen coordinatesystem, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited toconventional rendering devices (e.g., screens), but can includemultidimensional rendering devices, including interfaces required forvirtual and augmented reality systems, mixed reality, and threedimensional digital environments.

FIG. 1 illustrates system 100 configured to determine a metric ofvisibility of an object of interest in an electronically generatedmultidimensional digital environment displayed on graphical userinterface in accordance with one embodiment. In some embodiments, system100 can include one or more servers 102. Server(s) 102 can be configuredto communicate with one or more client computing platforms 104 accordingto a client/server architecture and/or other architectures. Clientcomputing platform(s) 104 can be configured to communicate with otherclient computing platforms via server(s) 102 and/or according to apeer-to-peer architecture and/or other architectures. Users can accesssystem 100 via client computing platform(s) 104.

Server(s) 102 can be configured by machine-readable instructions 106.Machine-readable instructions 106 can include one or more instructionmodules. The instruction modules can include computer program modules.The instruction modules can include one or more of a Viewport RenderingModule 108, a Screen Coverage Metric Determination Module 110, andoptionally a Visibility Metric Determination Module 112, and/or otherinstruction modules. Visibility Metric Determination Module 112 can, inone embodiment, also include a GAP determination module (not shown).

Viewport Rendering Module 108 can be configured to render a viewport ofthe multidimensional digital environment displayed on the graphical userinterface. The viewport, in this embodiment can include the object ofinterest. In one embodiment the object of interest can include amultidimensional digital object. In yet other embodiments, the object ofinterest can also include a bounding box enclosing the multidimensionaldigital object. In a preferred embodiment, viewport rendering module 108can render a scene in a multidimensional digital environment by placingan additional camera at the exact same position as the main scene camerausing which the scene is viewable to the user. In another embodiment,both the additional camera and the main scene camera can have a samefocal length as well.

In one embodiment, module 108 can render the object of interest with aset of colors. The set of colors can be any color that is preconfiguredto represent the object of interest. For example, in one embodiment, anyor all objects of interest can be rendered in one or more colors (e.g.,black, green, white, etc.) while other objects (not considered as anobject of interest) can be rendered in a different color to identify theobjects of interest from the rest of the rendered viewport or screen. Asreferred to herein a color is indented to mean a unique shade of acolor, which can usually be represented with a unique hexadecimal (hex)color code and/or red, blue, green (RGB) value.

In one embodiment, using the additional camera a render texture can beapplied where each object of interest is rendered with a unique color(e.g. green), while other scene features/objects not of interest arerendered in a particular color (e.g., black), to allow screen coveragemetric determination module 110 to identify the number of pixels forobject of interest on the viewport, as described further herein. Eachpixel of can be categorized by color to determine one or more objects ofinterest and to determine the number of pixels of the viewport used byeach object of interest. In one embodiment, Module 108 renders theviewport to a low-resolution image using the additional camera of themultidimensional digital environment, where the camera is at placed at,or approximately at, a position and rotation as that of the currentscene camera using which the scene is viewable to the user in themultidimensional digital environment. In one embodiment, the renderedview of the additional camera may be hidden from the user (that is, theuser/viewer is able to only see the scene as rendered by the maincamera). In this implementation, the main camera is used to display ascene of a multidimensional digital environment to a user or viewer onthe viewport whereas the additional camera is exactly overlapped overthe main camera so that both cameras render the exact same scene fromthe same distance and orientation. In one embodiment, both cameras sharethe same properties (e.g., focal length, angle of view, etc.). In oneembodiment, a screenshot/snapshot of the rendered scene is taken whichis then used by screen coverage metric determination module 110 forfurther processing. In one embodiment, server 102 can be configured totake a screenshot/snapshot at predetermined intervals.

Screen Coverage Metric Determination Module 110 can be configured todetermine a total number of pixels representing the objects of interestas well as total number of pixels in the viewport. Thereafter, module110 can determine the screen coverage metric by dividing the number ofpixels used by the object of interest (e.g., based on color) by thetotal number of pixels in the viewport. This ratio or proportion canrepresent, or can be used to derive, the metric of screen coverage bythe object of interest.

Optional embodiments can includes Visibility Metric Determination Module112 that can be configured to determine the ratio or percentage of theobject of interest on the view port. In one embodiment, module 112 candetermine the visibility metric by dividing the screen coverage metricby the GAP. The GAP can be calculated by a GAP determination module thatcan be optionally be implemented by module 112 or independently byanother module.

In one embodiment, the GAP provides an estimate of the hypotheticalscreen area for the object of interest's projection on the viewport. Inone embodiment, the visibility metric can represent the ratio betweenthe actual size (area) of the object of interest that is visible on thescreen and its hypothetical maximum. The visibility metric reflects, ortakes into consideration, not only parts of the object of interest thatare obscured by other objects, but also the part (portion) of the objectthat is not visible on the viewport. Thus, in one embodiment, a ratio orproportion by module 112, related to visibility of the object ofinterest can be determined by diving the ratio of screen coverage by theobject of interest (as determined by module 110) by the calculated GAPof the object of interest. The ratio or proportion determined by module112 can represent, or can be used to derived, the visibility metric.

In some embodiments, server(s) 102, client computing platform(s) 104,and/or external resources 114 can be operatively linked via one or moreelectronic communication links. For example, such electroniccommunication links can be established, at least in part, via a networksuch as the Internet and/or other networks. It will be appreciated thatthis is not intended to be limiting, and that the scope of thisdisclosure includes embodiments in which server(s) 102, client computingplatform(s) 104, and/or external resources 114 can be operatively linkedvia some other communication media.

A given client computing platform 104 can include one or more processorsconfigured to execute computer program modules. The computer programmodules can be configured to enable an expert or user associated withthe given client computing platform 104 to interface with system 100and/or external resources 114, and/or provide other functionalityattributed herein to client computing platform(s) 104. By way ofnon-limiting example, the given client computing platform 104 caninclude one or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computing platform, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a gamingconsole, and/or other computing platforms. External resources 114 caninclude sources of information outside of system 100, external entitiesparticipating with system 100, and/or other resources. In someembodiments, some or all of the functionality attributed herein toexternal resources 114 can be provided by resources included in system100.

Server(s) 102 can include electronic storage 116, one or more processors118, and/or other components. Server(s) 102 can include communicationlines, or ports to enable the exchange of information with a networkand/or other computing platforms. Illustration of server(s) 102 in FIG.1 is not intended to be limiting. Server(s) 102 can include a pluralityof hardware, software, and/or firmware components operating together toprovide the functionality attributed herein to server(s) 102. Forexample, server(s) 102 can be implemented by a cloud of computingplatforms operating together as server(s) 102.

Electronic storage 116 can comprise non-transitory storage media thatelectronically stores information. The electronic storage media ofelectronic storage 116 can include one or both of system storage that isprovided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server(s)102 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server(s)102 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.)or a drive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 116 caninclude one or more of optically readable storage media (e.g., opticaldisks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape,magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-basedstorage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media(e.g., flash drive, etc.), and/or other electronically readable storagemedia. Electronic storage 116 can include one or more virtual storageresources (e.g., cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or othervirtual storage resources). Electronic storage 116 can store softwarealgorithms, information determined by processor(s) 118, informationreceived from server(s) 102, information received from client computingplatform(s) 104, and/or other information that enables server(s) 102 tofunction as described herein.

Processor(s) 118 can be configured to provide information processingcapabilities in server(s) 102. As such, processor(s) 118 can include oneor more of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuitdesigned to process information, an analog circuit designed to processinformation, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronicallyprocessing information. Although processor(s) 118 is shown in FIG. 1 asa single entity, this is for illustrative purposes only. In someembodiments, processor(s) 118 can include a plurality of processingunits. These processing units can be physically located within the samedevice, or processor(s) 118 can represent processing functionality of aplurality of devices operating in coordination. Processor(s) 118 can beconfigured to execute modules 108, 110, 112, and/or other modules.

Processor(s) 118 can be configured to execute modules 108, 110, 112,and/or other modules by software; hardware; firmware; some combinationof software, hardware, and/or firmware; and/or other mechanisms forconfiguring processing capabilities on processor(s) 118. As used herein,the term “module” can refer to any component or set of components thatperform the functionality attributed to the module. This can include oneor more physical processors during execution of processor readableinstructions, the processor readable instructions, circuitry, hardware,storage media, or any other components.

It should be appreciated that although modules 108, 110, and/or 112, areillustrated in FIG. 1 as being implemented within a single processingunit, in embodiments in which processor(s) 118 includes multipleprocessing units, one or more of modules 108, 110, and/or 112 can beimplemented remotely from the other modules. The description of thefunctionality provided by the different modules 108, 110, and/or 112described below is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to belimiting, as any of modules 108, 110, and/or 112, can provide more orless functionality than is described. For example, one or more ofmodules 108, 110, and/or 112 can be eliminated, and some or all of itsfunctionality can be provided by other ones of modules 108, 110, and/or112. As another example, processor(s) 118 can be configured to executeone or more additional modules that can perform some or all of thefunctionality attributed below to one of modules 108, 110, and/or 112.

FIG. 2A illustrates scene 200 describing an object of interest in aviewport of a multidimensional digital environment, according to oneembodiment of the invention. As illustrated, viewport 202 can display,in one embodiment, an object of interest 204. Object of interest 204 canbe a multidimensional digital object displayed in a multidimensionaldigital environment. Object of interest 204 can include asset 206 whichcan represent the multidimensional digital object and optionally canalso include bounding box 208 that encloses asset 206.

FIG. 2B illustrates scene 201 describing a rendered object of interestin a viewport of a multidimensional digital environment, according toone embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, in this embodiment,object of interest 204 includes asset 206 and bounding box 208. Objectof interest 204 can be rendered with a specific color to differentiateit from the remainder of the objects in viewport 202. Viewport 202 andall other objects that are not considered as an object of interest canbe rendered in another color that is different from the specific/uniquecolor used to render object of interest 204. The rendering of object ofinterest 204 can be projected on the viewport of the multidimensionaldigital environment as 210, as shown.

In one embodiment, viewport 202 is rendered by an additional camera, ina lower resolution than the main camera that is visible to theuser/viewer of the scene. In this embodiment, the scene displayed by theadditional camera (e.g., scene 201) remains hidden from the user/viewer.In one embodiment, the additional camera can be used to implement theinvention as described herein. The additional camera is overlapped onthe main camera that is used to render the scene as viewed by theuser/viewer.

FIG. 3 illustrates rendered scene 300 describing two objects ofinterest, 302 and 304, of the same size displayed in viewport 202. In anexemplary embodiment, scene 300 is a low resolution seen rendered withan additional camera located at the same orientation, position, anddistance as the main camera that is used to display the rendered sceneof the multidimensional digital environment to the user. As illustrated,the camera has an unobstructed view of object of interest 302, while thecamera has a partially obstructed view of object of interest 304. Asillustrated, another object 306 (that is not an object of interest)partially obstructs the camera's view of object of interest 304. As anexample, it is presumed objects of interest 302 and 304 each render3,000 pixels (when not obstructed by another object) of viewport 202while object 306 renders 1,380 pixels. However, since the view of objectof interest 304 is partially obstructed by object 306, as illustrated,object of interest 304 renders 3,000-1,380=1,620 pixels of viewport 202.Thus, if it is presumed viewport 202 renders 10,000 pixels in total,screen coverage ratio, V₁, of object of interest can be determined as:

V ₁=pixels of object of interest÷total number of pixels in viewport

V _(1(object 302))=3,000÷10,000=0.300

V _(1(object 304))=1,620÷10,000=0.162

Thus, in this example, the metric of screen coverage can be determinedas 0.3 or 30% for object of interest 302 and 0.162 or 16.2% for object304. In one embodiment, a system can be configured to set the metric ofscreen coverage to be zero if the actual calculated screen coverageratio is below a predetermined threshold. In one embodiment, if themetric of screen coverage is determined to be below a predeterminedthreshold, the metric can be presumed to be zero (that is, the object ofinterest is presumed to be not visible on the viewport) despite beingvisible at least in part.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate diagrams 400 and 401, respectively,describing an object of interest in a multidimensional space whoseGeometrical Area of Projection (GAP) needs to be determined, accordingto one embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, the GAP is computedby projecting the vertices of the object of interest from worldcoordinates (e.g., x,y,z coordinates in a three dimensional environment)(FIG. 4A) to a two dimensional coordinate system (FIG. 4B) bycalculating the area of each face of the object of interest (ifvisible). In one embodiment, the GAP is calculated by summing the totalarea of each of the rendered faces of the object of interest in theviewport. Summing the area for each face is used to calculate themaximum theoretical area for the object of interest at the distance andorientation from the camera (from where the scene is rendered).

In one embodiment, the GAP uses normalized viewport coordinates (NVC) tocalculate the area of each face of the object of interest. In oneembodiment, NVC refers to a viewport space that is represented by a 2Dcoordinate system. In the NVC, the coordinates can begin with 0,0 as theminimum value and range to 1,1 as the maximum in a two dimensionalcoordinate system. Thus, in one embodiment, the GAP of the object ofinterest on the viewport can be determined by projecting the vertices ofthe object of interest from world coordinates to a normalized viewportspace (e.g., NVC system). Thereafter, a total area projected by thevertices of the object of interest in the viewport space.

In one embodiment, the multidimensional digital environment can berepresented as a three dimensional space. In this embodiment, tocalculate the GAP, the object of interest can be represented asincluding a bounding box in the shape of a parallelogram. Once the worldcoordinates are projected in the NVC system, in a 2D space, the objectof interest can be represented as having between one and three convexquadrilaterals.

In one embodiment, before projecting faces of a parallelogram, it isdetermined which face of the parallelogram are currently visible to thecamera. In order to define visible faces, the system, in one embodiment,measures the angle between the face's normal and the vector from thecamera to the face. In one embodiment, the camera's position to a face'smedian point is determined. This point is calculated in the viewportcoordinate system (model coordinate system).

In one embodiment, the median point (M_(p)) of the face in a plane(projected on the y axis) can be calculated as:

M _(p)=((x ₁ ,y,z ₁)+(x ₁ ,y,z ₂)+(x ₂ ,y,z ₂)+(x ₂ ,y,z ₁))÷4

In one embodiment, a face to be projected in the viewport coordinatesystem is considered as visible if the angle between face's normal andvector (C_(p)−M_(p)) is between ±90 degrees (that is, between +90 and−90 degrees), where C_(p) is the point where the camera is placed withina three dimensional space. Thereafter, points can be projected from thevisible faces to the viewport space. In one embodiment, this operationcan be performed using a View Projection matrix (M_(ViewProjection)).Projection of point P from 3D space (P_(3Dspace)) to the viewport space(P_(viewspace)) can be expressed as:

P _(viewspace) =M _(ViewProjection) ×P _(3Dspace)

where P_(3Dspace) is homogeneous coordinates of P=(x, y, z, 1).Projection operation itself can be, in one embodiment, themultiplication of matrix on the vector.

In one embodiment, to derive the View Projection matrix the viewProjection matrix as used in the rendering pipeline in 3D Engine isused. The View Projection matrix can be determined by using theposition/rotation of the camera, Field of View (FOV), screen aspectratio, camera's far and/or near clip planes.

After each point of the object of interest in the viewport space isprojected, one or more polygons can be defined from the projection. Thearea of each polygon (e.g., triangle, quadrilateral, square, pentagon,hexagon, octagon, etc.) can then be derived. In one embodiment, the sumof all polygons areas that are projected on the viewport space, relatedto the object of interest, can be considered as the GAP. The polygonscan be identified as quadrilaterals, squares, triangles, hexagons,pentagons, etc.

In one embodiment, the GAP can use normalized viewport space basedcoordinates, where the area [0, 1] for x and y-axes is the viewport(screen). Points projected beyond that range considered as located offthe screen. Thus, in this embodiments, GAP is measured related to thescreen size and includes a ratio of the area of the object of interestprojected on the screen divided by the total area of the screen. Thus,the GAP in a normalized viewport space can be represented as:

GAP=S _(projection) ÷S _(screen), where S _(screen)=1

In one embodiment, the total area projected by the vertices of theobject of interest can be determined after rendering the object ofinterest into a specific (unique) color as previously described herein.In one embodiment, the total area projected by the vertices can includedetermining a number of faces of the object of interest (identifiedbased on the rendered color of each pixel of the viewport), where eachface is determined using a set of vertices projected in the viewportspace (e.g., NVC system). Thereafter, the area of each projected facethat is visible on the viewport is determined and a summation of thearea of each face projected by the vertices is performed.

In one embodiment, to determine whether the faces that are visible onthe viewport, based on the color of pixel identified as the object ofinterest, an angle between a first vector which is perpendicular to theeach face and a second vector drawn from camera to a point on the eachface is determined. If the angle between the first and second vectors isless than 90 degrees, it is presumed the face is visible on theviewport, otherwise the face is determined to be not visible. An angleof 90 degrees would imply that only an edge of the object is visible. Inone embodiment, the second vector is drawn to the center of eachidentified face. However, it should be noted, any endpoint on the facecan be considered. Therefore, the second vector need not be drawntowards the center of the face.

In one embodiment, a visibility metric (V₂) can be calculated, or bepartially determined, by dividing the screen coverage ratio (V₁) by theGAP. Thus, in one embodiment:

V ₂ =V ₁÷GAP

In one embodiment, either V₁ or V₂ can be derived into a percentage bymultiplying each respective ratio by 100. In one embodiment, the GAPincludes the total area projected by the object of interest in the NVCsystem. In one embodiment, V₂ can be used to determine or derive thevisibility metric. In one embodiment, the viewport can be rendered to alow-resolution image using a camera of the multidimensional digitalenvironment, where the camera is at least one of placed at orapproximately placed at a position and rotation/orientation, and has afocal length as that of another camera of the multidimensional digitalenvironment. The other camera used to render the viewport may or may notbe visible to a viewer of the multidimensional digital environment. Inone embodiment, object of interest includes a bounding box enclosing themultidimensional digital object (asset). In other embodiments, theobject of interest may include the bounding box. The methods andtechniques described herein can be implemented in an environment havingany number of dimensions. Thus, in one embodiment, the multidimensionaldigital environment is at least a three-dimensional environment, and themultidimensional digital object (asset) is at least a three-dimensionaldigital object. In yet another embodiment, the asset can be a twodimensional digital object.

In an alternative embodiment, visibility metric (V₂) can be determinedby using the intersection between the vertices of an object of interestand the frustum from the camera's field of view. The followingcalculations can be used to determine the relative percentage of theintersection with the camera's frustum.

Percentage_(Object on screen)=Object_(Vertices In Frustum)÷Object_(Total Sampled Vertices)

In one embodiment, a predetermined number of sampled vertices (e.g.,1000 vertices) in the volume of the object of interest are selected.Such selection can be random or at predetermined fix locations. For eachof these points/vertices, a computer system can determine whether thepoint falls within the boundaries of the camera's frustum. To estimatethe ratio of the object that appears in the viewport space, the totalnumber of vertices that fall within the frustum are divided by the totalnumber of sampled vertices for the object of interest (e.g., 1000). Inyet another embodiment, if the total number of available vertices in anobject is fewer than the predetermined number of sampled points, allavailable vertices are sampled.

In one embodiment the object of interest can also include a bounding boxenclosing the multidimensional digital object. The multidimensionaldigital environment described herein can be a computer environment withtwo, three, four, six, twelve, etc. dimensions (but certainly notlimited to the mentioned dimensions). Thus, in one embodiment thecomputer environment described herein is at least a three dimensionalenvironment, and where the multidimensional digital object is at least atwo dimensional digital object. In another embodiment the digital objectcan be up to the same number of dimensions as the computer environment.Therefore, a three dimensional environment can have a digital objecthaving up to three dimensions, a four dimensional environment can have adigital object having up to four dimensions, etc. In one embodiment, themetric of viewability can be further determined from the first ratio inassociation with the second ratio. In one embodiment, another object,within the viewport, that is not the object of interest can be renderedwith preconfigured color(s) that represent any object not considered asthe object of interest. In yet another embodiment, the viewport isrendered to a low-resolution image using a low-resolution camera (LRC)of the multidimensional digital environment, where the LRC is at placedat, or approximately at, a position and rotation as that of the maincamera of the multidimensional digital environment; the scene renderedby the main camera being viewable by a user/viewer. In one embodiment,the scene rendered by the LRC is not visible to the user. In yet otherembodiments the main camera and the LRC can both can have a same focallength as well.

FIG. 5 illustrates flow diagram 500 describing the operations todetermine a metric of viewability of an object of interest in amultidimensional digital environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

As illustrated, at 502, the operations include rendering a viewport ofthe multidimensional digital environment displayed on the graphical userinterface, where the viewport includes the object of interest. Theobject of interest can include a multidimensional digital object, andcan be rendered by using one or more colors that are preconfigured to beassociated with the object of interest. Thereafter, at 504, a totalnumber of pixels projecting the object of interest are determined. Thiscan, in one embodiment, be determined by calculating the total numberpixels represented by the one or more preconfigured colors that areassociated with the object of interest. At 506, a total number of pixelsof the viewport are determined, and at 508, a ratio is calculated bydividing the total number of pixels represented by the object ofinterest by the total number of pixels in the viewports. The first ratiocan then, in one embodiment, represent, or can be used to derive, themetric of screen coverage by the object of interest (V₁) as illustratedat 510.

FIG. 6 illustrates flow diagram 600 describing the operations todetermine another metric of viewability of an object of interest in amultidimensional digital environment, according to one embodiment of theinvention.

As illustrated, at 602, the GAP of the object of interest on theviewport is determined. At 604, optionally, a second ratio by dividingthe first ratio by the GAP can be determined. The second ratio canrepresent, or can be used to derived, the visibility metric (V₂), asillustrated at 606.

FIG. 7 illustrates flow diagram 700 describing the operations to derivethe GAP of an object of interest in a multidimensional digitalenvironment, according to one embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated, at 702, the GAP of the object of interest on theviewport can be determined by projecting vertices of the object ofinterest from world coordinates to a normalized viewport space (e.g.,two dimensional (2D) coordinate system). At 704, a total area projectedby the vertices of the object of interest in the normalized 2Dcoordinate system visible on the viewport can be calculated. At 706, theGAP is determined based on the total area projected by the vertices.

FIG. 8 illustrates flow diagram 800 to determine a total area of allfaces projected by the vertices of an object of interest in a normalizedtwo dimensional coordinate system of a viewport, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

As illustrated, at 802, the total area projected by the vertices of eachface of the object of interest is determined. In one embodiment, wherethe object of interest is projected by one or more predefined colors,the vertices are determined by the color(s) of projection in thenormalized 2D coordinate system visible on the viewport. Thereafter, asummation of the area of each face projected by the vertices of thecolor representing the object of interest in the normalized 2Dcoordinate system visible can be performed to determine the total areaprojected by the vertices of the first set of colors as illustrated at804. Thereafter, at 806, the total area projected by the vertices of theobject of interest is determined.

FIG. 9 illustrates flow diagram 900 to determine an area of each faceprojected by the vertices of an object of interest, according to oneembodiment of the invention.

As illustrated, at 902, an angle between a first vector that isperpendicular to each face and a second vector drawn from a camera ofthe multidimensional digital environment to a point on that respectiveface is calculated. At 904, if it is determined that that a face isvisible on the viewport when the angle between the first and secondvectors is less than ±90 degrees. If the angle is determined to be ±90degrees, then it is considered as the edge of the object. Any angle morethan ±90 degrees is considered to be not visible on the viewport, asillustrated at 904. At 906, the area of each face projected by thevertices of the color(s) representing the object of interest in thenormalized 2D coordinate system that are determined to be visible on theviewport are calculated.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system such asa computing system 1000 which may be used with one embodiment of theinvention. For example, system 1000 can be implemented as part of asystem to determine viewability metrics of a multidimensional object ina multidimensional digital environment. It should be apparent from thisdescription that aspects of the present invention can be embodied, atleast in part, in software. That is, the techniques may be carried outin a computer system or other computer system in response to itsprocessor, such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructionscontained in memory, such as a ROM, DRAM, mass storage, or a remotestorage device. In various embodiments, hardware circuitry may be usedin combination with software instructions to implement the presentinvention. Thus, the techniques are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software nor to any particularsource for the instructions executed by the computer system. Inaddition, throughout this description, various functions and operationsare described as being performed by or caused by software code tosimplify description. However, those skilled in the art will recognizewhat is meant by such expressions is that the functions result fromexecution of the code by a processor.

In one embodiment, system 1000 can represent the server 102. System 1000can have a distributed architecture having a plurality of nodes coupledthrough a network, or all of its components may be integrated into asingle unit. Computing system 1000 can represent any of the dataprocessing systems described above performing any of the processes ormethods described above. In one embodiment, computer system 1000 can beimplemented as integrated circuits (ICs), discrete electronic devices,modules adapted to a circuit board such as a motherboard, an add-in cardof the computer system, and/or as components that can be incorporatedwithin a chassis/case of any computing device. System 1000 is intendedto show a high level view of many components of any data processing unitor computer system. However, it is to be understood that additional orfewer components may be present in certain embodiments and furthermore,different arrangement of the components shown may occur in otherembodiments. System 1000 can represent a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, aserver, a mobile phone, a programmable logic controller, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a personal communicator, a network router orhub, a wireless access point (AP) or repeater, a set-top box, or acombination thereof.

In one embodiment, system 1000 includes processor 1001, memory 1003, anddevices 1005-1008 via a bus or an interconnect 1022. Processor 1001 canrepresent a single processor or multiple processors with a singleprocessor core or multiple processor cores included therein. Processor1001 can represent one or more general-purpose processors such as amicroprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), Micro Controller Unit(MCU), etc. Processor 1001 can be a complex instruction set computing(CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC)microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, orprocessor implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 1001 may alsobe one or more special-purpose processors such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a cellular or baseband processor, afield programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP),a network processor, a graphics processor, a network processor, acommunications processor, a cryptographic processor, a co-processor, anembedded processor, or any other type of logic capable of processinginstructions. Processor 1001, can also be a low power multi-coreprocessor socket such as an ultra low voltage processor, may act as amain processing unit and central hub for communication with the variouscomponents of the system. Such processor can be implemented as a systemon chip (SoC).

Processor 1001 is configured to execute instructions for performing theoperations and methods discussed herein. System 1000 further includes agraphics interface that communicates with graphics subsystem 1004, whichmay include a display controller and/or a display device. Processor 1001can communicate with memory 1003, which in an embodiment can beimplemented via multiple memory devices to provide for a given amount ofsystem memory. In various embodiments the individual memory devices canbe of different package types such as single die package (SDP), dual diepackage (DDP) or quad die package (QDP). These devices can in someembodiments be directly soldered onto a motherboard to provide a lowerprofile solution, while in other embodiments the devices can beconfigured as one or more memory modules that in turn can couple to themotherboard by a given connector. Memory 1003 can be a machine readablenon-transitory storage medium such as one or more volatile storage (ormemory) devices such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or other types of storagedevices such as hard drives and flash memory. Memory 1003 may storeinformation including sequences of executable program instructions thatare executed by processor 1001, or any other device. System 1000 canfurther include IO devices such as devices 1005-1008, including wirelesstransceiver(s) 1005, input device(s) 1006, audio IO device(s) 1007, andother IO devices 1008.

Wireless transceiver 1005 can be a WiFi transceiver, an infraredtransceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a WiMax transceiver, a wirelesscellular telephony transceiver, a satellite transceiver (e.g., a globalpositioning system (GPS) transceiver), or other radio frequency (RF)transceivers, network interfaces (e.g., Ethernet interfaces) or acombination thereof. Input device(s) 1006 can include a mouse, a touchpad, a touch sensitive screen (which may be integrated with displaydevice 1004), a pointer device such as a stylus, and/or a keyboard(e.g., physical keyboard or a virtual keyboard displayed as part of atouch sensitive screen). Other optional devices 1008 can include astorage device (e.g., a hard drive, a flash memory device), universalserial bus (USB) port(s), parallel port(s), serial port(s), a printer, anetwork interface, a bus bridge (e.g., a PCI-PCI bridge), sensor(s)(e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, amagnetometer, a light sensor, compass, a proximity sensor, etc.), or acombination thereof. Optional devices 1008 can further include animaging processing subsystem (e.g., a camera), which may include anoptical sensor, such as a charged coupled device (CCD) or acomplementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, utilizedto facilitate camera functions, such as recording photographs and videoclips. Certain sensors can be coupled to interconnect 1022 via a sensorhub (not shown), while other devices such as a keyboard or thermalsensor may be controlled by an embedded controller (not shown),dependent upon the specific configuration or design of system 1000.

To provide for persistent storage of information such as data,applications, one or more operating systems and so forth, in oneembodiment, a mass storage (not shown) may also couple to processor1001. In various embodiments, to enable a thinner and lighter systemdesign as well as to improve system responsiveness, this mass storagemay be implemented via a solid state device (SSD). However in otherembodiments, the mass storage may primarily be implemented using a harddisk drive (HDD) with a smaller amount of SSD storage to act as a SSDcache to enable non-volatile storage of context state and other suchinformation during power down events so that a fast power up can occuron RE-initiation of system activities. Also a flash device may becoupled to processor 1001, e.g., via a serial peripheral interface(SPI). This flash device may provide for non-volatile storage of systemsoftware, including a basic input/output software (BIOS) as well asother firmware of the system.

Note that while system 1000 is illustrated with various components of adata processing system, it is not intended to represent any particulararchitecture or manner of interconnecting the components; as suchdetails are not germane to embodiments of the present invention. It willalso be appreciated that network computers, handheld computers, mobilephones, and other data processing systems which have fewer components orperhaps more components may also be used with embodiments of theinvention.

Furthermore, various techniques described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,825,200,titled, “Texture Based Pixel Count Determination” and U.S. Pat. No.10,949,990, titled, “Geometric Area Of Projection Of A MultidimensionalObject In A Viewport Space,” both filed on Jan. 30, 2019, can beimplemented in embodiments and/or aspects of the invention describedherein; as a result the contents of those patent applications are herebyincorporated by reference to the extent such content is consistentherewith.

Thus, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable medium to determineviewability metrics of a multidimensional object in a multidimensionaldigital environment are described herein. Although the present inventionhas been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, itwill be evident that various modifications and changes may be made tothese embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specificationand drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than arestrictive sense.

1. A method comprising: rendering, by a computing system, a viewport ofa multidimensional digital environment displayed on a graphical userinterface to determine a screen coverage metric of an object of intereston the viewport; and rendering, by the computing system, the viewport ofthe multidimensional digital environment displayed on the graphical userinterface to determine a metric of visibility of the object of intereston the viewport.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining themetric of visibility includes: calculating an intersection between atleast a set of vertices of the object of interest and a frustum from afield of view from a camera used to render the viewport of themultidimensional environment.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein apredetermined number of vertices of the object of interest are sampled.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the total number of vertices that fallwithin the frustum are divided by the total number of the sampledvertices.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional digitalenvironment is at least a three-dimensional environment, and wherein themultidimensional digital object is at least a three-dimensional digitalobject.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the screen coverage metric isdetermined by dividing the number of pixels of the object of interestthat are visible on the view port by the total number of pixels of theview port.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the metric ofvisibility includes: determining a geometrical area of projection (GAP)of the object of interest on the viewport.
 8. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions which when executed by aprocessing system implements a method, comprising: rendering a viewportof a multidimensional digital environment displayed on a graphical userinterface to determine a screen coverage metric of an object of intereston the viewport; and rendering the viewport of the multidimensionaldigital environment displayed on the graphical user interface todetermine a metric of visibility of the object of interest on theviewport.
 9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8,wherein determining the metric of visibility includes: calculating anintersection between at least a set of vertices of the object ofinterest and a frustum from a field of view from a camera used to renderthe viewport of the multidimensional environment.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 9, wherein a predetermined number ofvertices of the object of interest are sampled.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the total number ofvertices that fall within the frustum are divided by the total number ofthe sampled vertices.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the screen coverage metric is determined by dividingthe number of pixels of the object of interest that are visible on theview port by the total number of pixels of the view port.
 13. The methodof claim 1, wherein determining the metric of visibility includes:determining a geometrical area of projection (GAP) of the object ofinterest on the viewport.
 14. A system, comprising: a memory module; aprocessing system comprising at least one hardware core coupled to thememory module configured to: render a viewport of a multidimensionaldigital environment displayed on a graphical user interface to determinea screen coverage metric of an object of interest on the viewport; andrender the viewport of the multidimensional digital environmentdisplayed on the graphical user interface to determine a metric ofvisibility of the object of interest on the viewport.
 15. The system ofclaim 14, wherein determining the metric of visibility includes:calculating an intersection between at least a set of vertices of theobject of interest and a frustum from a field of view from a camera usedto render the viewport of the multidimensional environment.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein a predetermined number of vertices of theobject of interest are sampled.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein thetotal number of vertices that fall within the frustum are divided by thetotal number of the sampled vertices.
 18. The system of claim 14,wherein the multidimensional digital environment is at least athree-dimensional environment, and wherein the multidimensional digitalobject is at least a three-dimensional digital object.
 19. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the screen coverage metric is determined by dividingthe number of pixels of the object of interest that are visible on theview port by the total number of pixels of the view port.
 20. The systemof claim 14, wherein determining the metric of visibility includes:determining a geometrical area of projection (GAP) of the object ofinterest on the viewport.